'Deep Blue' to close London fest

LONDON -- Terence Davies' "The Deep Blue Sea," toplining Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale, will close this year's BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 27.The U.K. preem of the pic at the end of the fest means Weisz will feature in two films bookending the fest: Fernando Meirelles' "360," also starring the Brit thesp, is opening the LFF on Oct. 12."The Deep Blue Sea," written and directed by Davies, is based on Terence Rattigan's play of the same name.It's the helmer's first feature since 2000's "The House of Mirth." His last time behind the lens was for 2008 docu "Of Time and the City."In the pic Weisz plays the beautiful wife of a high court judge who leads a privileged life in 1950s London. To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with a former Royal Air Force pilot, with whom she has fallen passionately in love.Sean O'Connor and Kate Ogborn produce while Katherine Butler, Lisa Marie Russo, Peter Hampden and Norman Merry exec produce."Terence Davies is a filmmaker whom the BFI has supported from the very beginnings of his career, and in Terence Rattigan's centenary year, this beautifully directed and acted film is the perfect closing-night film," said LFF artistic director Sandra Hebron in a statement.O'Connor and Ogborn said "Sea" is "very much a London-based film, so it feels just right for the film's first U.K. outing to be at this wonderful festival."Pic is backed by the former U.K. Film Council and Film4. Artificial Eye is releasing it Nov. 25 in Blighty. Protagonist Pictures is handling international sales. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Mediaset Espana accumulates 11 U.S. shows

MADRID -- TV conglom Mediaset Espana has inked free-to-air The spanish language TV privileges to 11 new U.S. dramas, including five approaching ABC shows. The ABC package is brought by "Charlie's Angels" remake -- probably the most buzzed-about ABC entry at May's L.A. Tests. ABC Studios' skeins acquired by Mediaset Espana likewise incorporate sudser "Revenge," Shonda Rhimes-composed "Scandal," Sean Bean starrer "Missing" and thriller "The River," created alongside Dreamworks TV. Mediaset Espana has additionally acquired CBS TV Galleries series "A Gifted Guy," included in an offer that enables the The spanish language broadcaster to select four new CBS dramas over 2 yrs in the L.A. Tests. Another CBS TV Galleries series, "Memorable," continues to be acquired from The new sony Pictures Television. From NBC, the The spanish language TV conglom has had tuner-drama "Smash," NBC's most anticipated pilot, and supernatural-designed show "Grimm." Other Mediaset purchases for The country include CW's drama "Ringer," toplining Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Syfy's newcomer skein "Alphas." The brand new dramas will air in The country via Mediaset Espana's TV funnel spread, which includes core funnel Telecinco plus TV services Cuatro, Divinity, Factoria p Ficcion, La Siete and Boing. This funnel bouquet brought Spain's TV ratings in This summer, collectively nabbing a 28.7% aud share. Mediaset Espana's appetite for U.S. programming has elevated since purchasing Prisa broadcaster Cuatro this past year. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Disney shuts down production on The Lone Ranger

In a thoroughly surprisingly move, Disney has shut down production on The Lone Ranger, the Johnny Depp-starrer that was set to be a winter 2012 tentpole.Deadline broke the news, citing budgetary concerns as the main halting factor. Apparently the budget, which has been reduced to somewhere north of $200m, was still too high for Disney.It seems there are other projects sapping the Disney dollar, with John Carter requiring considerable reshoots, and Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great And Powerful also needing a hefty amount of financial backing (again, circling the $200m mark).It seems that The Lone Ranger was the easiest project to kill, even though it had already racked up pre-production expenses, and Johnny Depp's 'pay or play' contract means he'll still be picking up his cheque even if the film doesn't go ahead.This cancellation still comes as a huge surprise though, not least because it reunites the Pirates Of The Caribbean team of Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.And that's not to mention the cast they had in place, with Armie Hammer set to play the title character, and Helena Bonham Carter on board as a brothel madam.Right now, it's uncertain whether or not Bruckheimer will try to shop the project to another studio.A number of ambitious projects have been dumped recently, including Guillermo del Toro's At The Mountains Of Madness and Ron Howard's The Dark Tower, but none seemed as bankable as Ranger.If we get any news on a potential saviour for this project, you'll here about it here.

Justin Lin talks Terminator

Bad news for fans of the Highlander franchise, as Fast Five director Justin Lin has stepped down from directorial duties on the forthcoming remake. At present he's set to remain on board as the film's producer.The director had been attached to the project since 2008, but his star has risen since then and it seems that he's received a couple of more attractive offers.First of these is Fast And Furious 6, which Lin confirmed will be his next project in a recent interview with The Playlist. More intriguing however is his involvement with a new Terminator film, on which things are beginning to happen."Terminator is something I've been having a lot of fun with," said Lin. "Just even this week, I had a great meeting with Arnold [Schwarzenneger] and James Cameron, just sitting down unofficially. And James is so gracious because he's not part of the project, he's not going to be producing, but it was great of him just as a filmmaker to take time out to just talk.""I don't know where it's going to lead," he continues, "but I never thought at this level I'm going to be able to meet filmmakers and be in situations where they're that gracious and insightful and so inclusive."Schwarzenneger already has The Last Stand on his plate, but it's heartening to know that the preliminaries are underway on the Terminator project. As for Highlander, it looks like a case of returning to the drawing board...Source: The Playlist, THRWhich gets you more excited, a new Terminator or a new Highlander? Or neither? Share your thoughts below...

'Circumstance' Takes Top Prize at Noor Iranian Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival Audience Award champion "Circumstance" was famous again Sunday evening because it won the crowd Award, Best Director and finest Actress in the 4th Annual Noor Iranian Film Festival, held about the UCLA campus.Director Maryam Keshavarz left Iran after her film about star-entered enthusiasts was banned. It starts a U.S. theatrical operate on August. 26 in La and New You are able to.David Negahban won Best Actor for his role within the video clip "Liberation," by director Michael Younesi, with Nikohl Boosheri winning for "Circumstance." In most, 25 honours were provided in the ceremony at UCLA's James Bridges Theater.Jury people with this year's festival incorporated Oscar-nominated seem editor Iranian-American Kami Asgar ("Apocalypto"), actor Corey Feldman ("The Lost Boys"), actress Frances Fisher ("Titanic"), actress Bai Ling ("Anna and also the King") and actor Max Martini ("Saving Private Ryan"). The Hollywood Reporter

BBC, Starz set co-productions

BBC Worldwide Prods. has pacted with Starz to produce hourlong series for the network, potentially generating up to $300 million and more than 100 hours of programming. Deal comes on the heels of Starz's new partnership show with the Beeb, "Torchwood: Miracle Day." The series, which premiered to positive reviews, is self-contained but also functions as a fourth season of the BBC's own "Torchwood." Show is an older-skewing spinoff of the Brit broadcaster's long-running sci-fier "Doctor Who." As part of the new pact, programs will be co-developed by Stars and BBC Worldwide Prods., produced by the latter in partnership with Starz's own original programming unit, and distribbed by Starz in the U.S. and Anglophone Canada. Starz topper Chris Albrecht said the move was of a piece with the net's new focus on original content. "When I came to Starz, we determined that forging strong international partnerships would play centerstage in financing our ramp-up of dynamic original programming," Albrecht said. "This exciting partnership with BBC Worldwide Prods. is a major step in that direction." Jane Tranter, head of BBC Worldwide Prods., said the group was "in a uniquely similar place to Starz" in that it, too, had become more focused on original programming. "'Torchwood: Miracle Day' has been a collaborative and invigorating journey," Tranter said. "We're very much looking forward to bringing Starz subscribers more of the programming they're coming to expect -- intelligent, groundbreaking and honest storytelling, which is synonymous with our BBC roots and values." Contact Sam Thielman at sam.thielman@variety.com

Fox Buys Legal Drama From Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim

EXCLUSIVE: Greg Berlanti has sold his first project under his rich new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television -- a legal drama to be written by his frequent collaborator Marc Guggenheim. The project, entitled Guilty, has landed at Fox with a script commitment with penalty said to be in the put pilot range. It centers on a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney who, after being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, uses his unorthodox methods to solve the cases he's been prohibited from handling and to ultimately exact revenge on the men who set him up. This marks the latest legal drama project for Guggenheim, who is a former lawyer. His first produced work was an episodic script for The Practice. He also worked on NBC's Law & Order and ABC's In Justice, and co-created with Berlanti the supernatural legal drama Eli Stone. Guggenheim, who also is a longtime comic book writer, most recently executive produced alongside Berlanti the ABC Studios superhero family drama No Ordinary Family. Their joint credits also include this summer's feature Green Lantern, which the two co-wrote, and the short-lived WB drama series Jack & Bobby, which Berlanti co-created/executive produced under his first overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti recently returned to the studio after a 5-year stint at ABC Studios. Guggenheim and Berlanti are executive producing Guilty for WBTV and Berlanti Television.